The Posthumous Investigation Review – Turn Back Time To Solve The Crime

It is 1937 in Rio de Janeiro, and Brás Cubas is dead. But this influential tycoon is not going to let his murder go unsolved. He has arranged for a renowned detective (that’d be you!) to solve the case – and, by some strange circumstances, he’s trapped in Limbo, watching your investigation from beyond the grave. Oh, and did we mention that the day is repeating over and over again and you won’t be able to escape until you’ve solved this strange crime? Welcome to The Posthumous Investigation, a twisty mystery puzzler inspired by classic noir detective thrillers.

The Posthumous Investigation, developed by Mother Gaia Studio and published by Critical Leap and InfiniFun, is a detective game with classic point-and-click and investigative gameplay, inspired by the novel The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. You’ll meet and talk to suspects, gather clues, show said clues to suspects for more information, and arrange your thoughts and conclusions in a slickly designed deduction menu. As you repeat the day, you’ll be able to meet new people, draw new conclusions, and connect evidence together with the goal of figuring out what really happened to Brás Cubas.

First things first, my absolute favorite thing about The Posthumous Investigation is how rich and lived-in the world feels. From the first moments of the game, you really get the feeling that you are a character in one story in a world filled with many of them. In the background of your investigation there’s political turmoil, strikes, drama between several of the suspects, and more. You’re investigating a murder, but the world still turns around you, and the game’s characters truly feel like rich, multi-dimensional people with full lives rather than caricatures who simply stand there waiting for you to interrogate them. You leave each conversation feeling like you don’t know everything there is to know about the suspect, and that’s extremely fun. I would love to play more games set in this world.

Second, it is very easy for a black and white classic noir story to feel grim and dour, but The Posthumous Investigation goes in the opposite direction, and that is to its benefit. The world is dark and full of corruption and secrets, but there is a humor here that is present from the very first moments of the game. Much of the humor comes from the fact that the Detective character you play is not exactly a well-respected individual. Sam Spade or Hercule Poirot you are certainly not – you apparently haven’t had a case in quite a while, and most people openly doubt that you are a detective and happily make fun of you for it.

When I left my apartment on the very first day and the cheeky young paperboy I talked to immediately mocked me for wearing a coat in the Rio heat, I knew this was going to be a hilarious game, and I was definitely not wrong. This is a game that will keep you laughing even as you progress through its dark and twisty story. One of my personal favorite funny moments is how, even after repeated interactions with her, Sabine Cubas (the victim’s sister) remains CONVINCED that you are a reporter planning to write a story about her, and keeps reminding you to mention her beauty or how elegantly she’s crying.

As for the story, I won’t say anything that could potentially give away any spoilers,but it is a fun and twisty mystery that heads in some unexpected directions. My favorite part of the story is the fact that you get to debrief with Brás at the end of each in-game day. He is a fascinating character with a unique way of speaking and a complex web of relationships with the game’s cast, so it is really interesting to get his perspective on things.

Brás is a delight – condescending and smug in the way a tycoon would be towards the “lowly” detective he hired, with snarky opinions about every single character and event. I always really enjoyed getting to talk to him at the end of the day, even if he was sometimes outright rude. Connecting witness statements and clues with Brás on a “deduction corkboard” in Limbo is also really satisfying as well, and I really appreciate that the Brás conversations do include a hint system (although sometimes his hints are frustratingly vague).

Gameplay-wise, the game is pretty solid. Time loop games are hard to do well, because you have to have some elements of “you need to do the same thing several times to progress through the day” without it getting too repetitive. I do think The Posthumous Investigation balances things very well, with lots of different directions you can go and not too many things that you have to do repeatedly. I do like that you can often find new things simply by wandering around and stumbling on a conversation, or choosing to follow one suspect throughout their entire path.

I will admit, I did get a little annoyed with how many times I had to go to the cafe to get some sort of bread or food item in order to speak to a witness, but that is a fairly minor complaint. I also very much appreciate that the game gives you a “fast forward time” feature from your second loop onward, because there are lots of things that only happen later in the day and even in your last few hours before reset! My other small complaint is that there are a few spelling and grammar errors. I believe that the game was translated into English, and there are a few phrases that are worded awkwardly. I noticed it most frequently in Padre Cabal’s dialogue, where some of the stuff he said was worded very strangely. It never reached a point where I misunderstood a clue or couldn’t figure out what was going on, but, with such a dialogue-heavy game, it was occasionally frustrating to have to read through some awkwardly translated conversations.

Overall, though, The Posthumous Investigation is a great game that effectively blends the mystery and time loop genres, with a fun noir twist and a really cool world to explore. I would love to play more mysteries in this setting, especially if they have central figures as fun and compelling as the slimy but fascinating Brás Cubas. Mystery lovers are eating good this year, and, if you’re a lover of sleuthing, this is yet another wonderful title to add to your collection.

Kate played The Posthumous Investigation on PC with a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and our score will not be changed.